SPM News

011420 304 Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds delivered her condition of the state address this morning at the Iowa State House. Reynolds unveiled the “Invest in Iowa Act”. The move would increase the sales tax by one percent and lower others. “I’m proposing to cut income tax by an additional 10 percent for almost every Iowan, with lower-income Iowans receiving as much as a 25 percent cut.” Reynolds also proposes reducing county property taxes. The state would help pick up the cost of mental health

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds delivered her Condition of the State Address this morning. She plans to make the next decade Iowa’s best with what she calls bold and visionary initiatives. She unveilved the “Invest in Iowa Act”. The move would increase sales tax by one percent and lower others. “I’m proposing to cut income tax by an additional 10 percent for almost every Iowan, with lower-income Iowans receiving as much as a 25 percent cut.” Some other proposals included improving flood relief, more

011320 504 Democrat Cory Booker has dropped out of the presidential race after failing to qualify for the December primary debate. Booker announced Monday that he was ending a campaign whose message of unity and love failed to gain traction in a political era marked by chaos and anxiety. South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg will be in Sioux City and Le Mars later this week. He will be in Orange City and Arnolds Park on Thursday and Sioux City on Thursday evening at West Middle School. The

011320 404 Democrat Cory Booker today has dropped out of the presidential race after failing to qualify for the December primary debate. The U.S. senator from New Jersey had struggled in polling and fundraising since launching his bid last February. Booker was unable to hit 5% support in a single qualifying poll required to make it on the January debate stage. The 2020 Iowa Legislature convenes this morning, with lawmakers from both political parties pledging action to ease the child care

011320 304 The Iowa House of Representatives has officially elected Republican Pat Grassley as the new speaker of the House. The chamber voted today (Monday), the first day of the 2020 legislative session. Grassley is a 36-year-old farmer from New Hartford and the grandson of U-S Senator Chuck Grassley. Speaker Grassley says his time as chair of a powerful budget-writing committee showed him the importance of building consensus among House Republicans. “Now that was at a smaller scale, obviously

The Iowa Senate and House of Representatives gaveled in this morning. Republican Pat Grassley of New Hartford is the new speaker of the house. Tomorrow, Republican Governor Kim Reynolds will deliver her third condition of the state address. She’ll set out her agenda for the year and unveil her budget proposal. They’re expected to include workforce and rural Iowa initiatives, and restoring felon voting rights. Listen for live coverage on Siouxland Public Media starting at 10 a.m. There are just

011020 504 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 34 states are now reporting high flu activity. That is an increase from 25 states last week. Iowa and Nebraska are two of the 34 states experiencing high flu activity. In Iowa, the Department of Public Health lists influenza as "widespread" throughout the state. The IDPH says this season there's been over 6,000 Iowans hospitalized for the flu and 11 people have reportedly died due to flu-related symptoms. While in Nebraska,

11020 404 The Iowa chapter of March For Our Lives is looking to build support in the legislature for new gun laws. Their proposals include mandatory reporting for lost and stolen firearms, universal background checks and a seven-day waiting period before completing a gun purchase. Legislative director Nick Pryor says, in other states, longer waiting periods have been shown to reduce gun violence. When emotions run high, either in suicide or like homicidal situations, having that waiting period

011020 304 A significant winter snowstorm is expected to affect this evening’s commute across much of Iowa. National Weather Service meteorologist Alan Curtis says the system will work its way from the southwest to the northeast. Through areas like Atlantic, Des Moines, the southern Ames metro then off towards Marshalltown and Waterloo. This evening those areas could end up seeing about two to five or three to six inches in some cases.” Curtis says in combination with the falling snow, northerly

The CDC reports widespread flu activity and Siouxland District Health is seeing an increase in our area. Kristen Beal is the Infection Preventionist and Patient Safety Officer at UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s. “We went from 17% positive test rate to a, 40% test rate over the holidays and maintained that for a couple of weeks and now we’re at a 33% test rate this week.” Beal says the hospital’s emergency room is busy treating people respiratory illnesses, with influenza B being the most common